The free, open-source Elicit alternative that runs on your machine
sciClaw is a paired-scientist agent for literature search, manuscript drafting, and document review — MIT licensed, running locally with your own API key. Your papers, notes, and data never leave your machine, and every step lands in a folder you can open, version, and audit.
brew tap drpedapati/tap && brew install sciclaw
Read the docs · Step-by-step install guide
Free & open source (MIT) · Runs locally · Bring your own model
Why researchers look for an Elicit alternative
Cost at scale
Elicit's free Basic tier gives unlimited search/summaries/chat but only limited usage of Research Agent and Research Reports, and export (RIS/CSV/BIB/PDF/DOCX) is a paid feature. sciClaw is free at every tier; you pay only your own model provider (typically a few dollars a month).
Where your data lives
Elicit is a hosted cloud service; “no training on your data by default” is listed as an Enterprise-tier feature. sciClaw runs on your machine: files stay local, there's no sciClaw account, no telemetry.
Beyond search
Elicit is built around screening and extracting from papers. sciClaw also writes and runs code, produces .docx with real tracked changes, and logs a full audit trail for reproducibility.
sciClaw vs. Elicit
| sciClaw | Elicit | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, MIT open source (you pay your own model API) | Free Basic tier; paid from $11/user/mo academic (billed $132/yr) or $49/user/mo Pro (industry); Scale $89–$169/mo |
| Where it runs | Your machine — local files, no vendor account | Hosted cloud |
| Data handling | Files never leave your device | Cloud-processed; “no training on your data by default” is an Enterprise feature |
| Paper corpus | PubMed / NCBI E-Utilities (+ your own PDFs) | 138M+ papers, 500k+ clinical trials |
| Export | Local files by default (.docx, .csv, RIS) | RIS/CSV/BIB/PDF/DOCX on paid plans |
| Systematic review | Scriptable via protocols/skills | Dedicated workflow; screens 5,000 papers (Pro) |
| Writing & review | Tracked changes in Word, margin comments, semantic diff | Not a manuscript-revision tool |
| Runs code / stats | Yes — R, Python, Quarto with provenance | No |
| PHI / clinical use | PHI mode | Enterprise security controls |
| Interface | Discord / Telegram / CLI | Web app |
| Best for | Researchers who want local control, reproducibility, and drafting | Teams doing large-scale screening in the cloud |
Competitor pricing verified 2026-07-26 at elicit.com/pricing. Re-verify before each publish.
Elicit is excellent at what it does — large-scale paper screening and structured extraction across a huge corpus. If that's your core need and cloud is fine, it's a strong tool. sciClaw is for researchers who want the work to happen on their own machine, with an auditable trail and the ability to draft and run analyses, for free.
Choose sciClaw if / Choose Elicit if
- Choose sciClaw if: you handle sensitive or clinical data, you want reproducibility and provenance, you want manuscript drafting + tracked changes, you'd rather not pay per seat, or you want to fork and extend the tooling.
- Choose Elicit if: your main job is screening thousands of papers with a polished web UI and a managed 138M-paper index, and you want it to just work without local setup.
Curious how we think about local-first research tooling? Read our philosophy and security model.
Frequently asked questions
Is sciClaw really free?
Yes — MIT licensed, no account, no telemetry. You pay your AI provider directly (most researchers spend a few dollars/month).
Does my data go to the cloud?
Your files stay on your machine. Only your prompt/conversation goes to whichever model provider you choose, using your own key.
Can it do systematic reviews?
It can run multi-step, logged protocols and PubMed queries. For very large-scale screening with a dedicated managed workflow, Elicit Pro is purpose-built.
Can I use it with PHI?
sciClaw has a PHI mode — see /phi-mode.html. You remain responsible for your institution's compliance requirements.
What do I need?
Mac or Linux (Windows via WSL), one Homebrew command, and an AI provider account. See the install guide.
Install in one line. Keep your data.
brew tap drpedapati/tap && brew install sciclaw